The Concept of the Goodly Life ( Ḥayāt Ṭayyiba ) in the Works of Kenan Rifā‘ī

Abstract

Abstract: As one of the most important and influential personalities in twentieth-century Turkish Sufi history, Kenan Rifā‘ī (1867–1950) produced numerous written works and cultivated generations of students until his death in 1950. Despite not writing a dedicated work of either Qur’ānic exegesis ( tafsīr ) or commentary on Prophetic narrations ( aḥadīth ), his recorded discourses and commentaries on other Sufi works, especially on the Masnavī-ye Ma‘navī (Spiritual Couplets) of Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī (d. 1273 CE), provide a rich source of insight into his thoughts on Sufism and Muslim scripture. This article examines Kenan Rifā‘ī’s understanding of one major Qur’ānic concept, namely that of the goodly life ( ḥayāt ṭayyiba ). Mentioned in Qur’ān 16:97, ḥayāt ṭayyiba , along with its constituent elements of life ( ḥayā ) and goodness ( ṭayyib ), have been the subject of numerous interpretations in premodern Islamic religious and Sufi literature, all of which influenced Rifā‘ī’s own conception of ḥayāt ṭayyiba . To better understand the unique status of the goodly life in Kenan Rifā‘ī’s Sufi teaching, this article examines the use of this term both in his works as well as in the broader literary, semantic, and scriptural contexts that deeply influenced his approach to Sufism. This article is divided into four sections. Beginning with a brief biographical sketch of Kenan Rifā‘ī’s life and career as a Sufi sheikh, this is followed by an analysis of the two constitutive terms of the goodly life ( ḥayāt ṭayyiba ), namely the Arabic terms ḥayā (life) and ṭayyib (good), including their appearances in the Qur’ān and Hadith and their interpretation in premodern Islamic religious literatures. This article then includes a brief section on premodern interpretations of the specific term ḥayāt ṭayyiba before a more extensive examination of how this term is used in Kenan Rifā‘ī’s own writings and oral discourses.